An easy cupcake recipe has to be on every baker's list. Our favorite recipe uses the all-in-one method, so everything is weighed out into a mixing bowl then beaten with an electric whisk until it all comes together. Ours are topped with a swirly two-tone buttercream frosting, but you can play around with the many cute cases and sprinkles which are readily available.
A great use-up for overripe bananas, this is a top choice of cake – it's not really bread. Our version takes it up a notch, with chocolate, nuts, orange zest and glacé cherries, for a beautifully moist cake. Serve it sliced and buttered.
Although the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York began serving red velvet in the 1930s, it was very likely around before that. The signature red, light, tangy sponge, with thick layers of cream cheese frosting, makes a perfect celebration cake. Our favorite recipe takes just 30 minutes to prepare, with maximum wow factor.
It's better to use cooking apples for pie, as they become soft and fluffy in the oven. Our easy and tasty version is for a skillet or cast-iron frying-pan pie, where the apples are cooked in butter and cinnamon on the stovetop, then covered with shop-bought pastry and baked.
Get the recipe for apple pie here
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Everyone loves a lemon drizzle, which dates back to the 1960s, with its mix of sweetness and tart, lemony acidity, with a welcome crunch from the drizzle. It's an easy cake to make and will keep for up to three days in an airtight container, although it's unlikely it will last that long.
A proper brownie has to be dense, intensely chocolatey, gooey and fudgy. Our ultimate brownie recipe has just five ingredients and is very simple to make. As a bonus, they taste amazing the day after baking, so our recipe's a keeper in every way.
Strawberry shortcake is always a popular dish to serve in summer. It does need to be eaten warm from the oven, but you can prep ahead and keep the cut-out unbaked dough in the fridge for up to two hours before baking. What's not to love with a filling of whipped cream, fresh strawberries and strawberry sauce?
Better than anything you'd buy, homemade muffins hit the spot as an afternoon pick-me-up or a special weekend breakfast treat. A simple batter with added blueberries takes minutes to make. Our recipe is a little different, with oat bran adding texture and making these a slightly healthier choice.
Bundt refers to the tin it's baked in, rather than the cake. Its origins are in Germany, but it became popular in the US at the beginning of the 20th century. A bundt cake certainly bring wow factor to the table. The key is to generously butter or oil the tin, to prevent the batter sticking. Our version has a honey, almond, tangerine and vanilla sponge, served with fresh fruit and a generous coating of tangerine icing.
These gorgeous little bites of almond meringue with a creamy filling have been popular in France for centuries, way before chic French pâtisseries jumped on them. They are very expensive to buy, but you can make them at home as long as you take your time. Our recipe will give the ultimate macaron, explaining any pitfalls you may encounter along the way.
This classic cake became popular in the US in the 1920s when a pineapple company ran a recipe competition. Here's our updated version with fresh pineapple, cooked in sticky caramel and layered on the base of the tin. It's covered with a simple batter flavored with fresh ginger, and is great served with ice cream or coconut sorbet.
A cake which has been around since the reign of Britain's Queen Victoria (and named after her), it's still an easy and much-loved treat today. Two light, airy sponge cakes are sandwiched together with raspberry jam and whipped cream. Purists may say it should be jam only, but the cream does add richness. Here's a top tip: lining the tins with baking parchment prevents the edges from over-browning.
While today's carrot cake is definitely American, the origins date back to medieval palaces where a sweet carrot pudding was made. It's such a favorite cake – so delicious and so easy. You cannot fail with our step-by-step recipe, with walnuts and spice adding texture and flavor, and a foolproof frosting to boot.
Get the recipe for carrot cake with cream cheese frosting here
Sure, you can buy a packet, but nothing beats the taste of a homemade cookie. Our top tips? Buy good-quality chocolate; allow the cookie dough to firm up for a few hours in the fridge before baking; and leave them on the baking tray to firm up once they are out of the oven. Our recipe is gooey, chewy and intensely chocolatey, just how a great cookie should be.
Madeleines are popular all over France, from where these moreish little cakes originate, and across the world. They're known for their signature shell shape so you'll need a special tin, but beyond needing this basic piece of kit, they are simple to make, to be enjoyed fresh from the oven. Our recipe has a new twist, with the addition of orange and cardamom.
It's unclear who actually invented the baked cheesecake, but many accounts point to Arnold Reuben, a Jewish-German immigrant who owned a Manhattan deli and restaurant in the 1920s. To this day, its creamy, silky vanilla filling on a crunchy biscuit base still ticks all the boxes for cheesecake-lovers. Remember it needs time to chill overnight. Our recipe is served with a berry compote.
There are mentions of blueberry pie in the US from the mid-19th century, particularly in New England where blueberries still grow wild. Our recipe is for an open pie. Blueberries cooked with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and lemon are piled into a baked pastry shell. Half the blueberries are mashed, which gives a wonderfully jammy taste and texture. Add whipped cream or ice cream to serve.
Every chocoholics' dream: moist chocolate sponges sandwiched and covered with fudgy chocolate frosting, sprinkled with grated chocolate or chocolate curls. In this recipe, you'll have to cut the sponge to make the layers, so you will need a long serrated knife. If you're not confident, don't split them and you will just have a lovely thick layer of frosting.
This homely cake probably evolved into its current form with the arrival of instant coffee. With its fluffy sponge flecked with crunchy nuts and a bittersweet coffee filling, it's hard to resist. You can either fill and top the cake with the frosting in the recipe below, or make a glacé frosting. Mix sifted confectioners' sugar and strong coffee, and spoon it over the top, allowing it to drip around the cake.
A classic British bake, our version has a modern twist with lemon and fresh raspberries, plus a sugary lemon drizzle. The addition of yogurt in the batter reacts with the baking powder to create a moist, light cake. It keeps well too.
A dense, fudgy flourless chocolate cake, torte is more of a dessert, best served with crème fraîche or thick sour cream to cut through the richness. With just four ingredients, our recipe really is easy and has the signature texture. It will sink upon cooling but that's quite normal, so no need to panic.
Although it had been around in some form for years before, it was the great French chef Marie-Antoine Carême who developed the profiterole in the 1800s into the recipe we know today. Crisp, light choux pastry buns, filled with cream and covered with melted chocolate or caramel are an essential skill for dessert lovers. Choux pastry is easier than you think, all made in a pan, and our recipe will achieve a perfect result every time.
Both Australia and New Zealand lay claim to the invention of this gorgeous meringue, filled with cream and seasonal fruits. It's named after the ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured both countries in the 1920s. Our recipe makes a large version to feed eight. Just remember to add the sugar slowly, beating between each addition. It's served with a salted caramel sauce – not traditional, but very good.
This recipe first appeared in an Australian women's magazine in the 1970s, although it can be traced back centuries to Scotland as caramel shortbread, without the chocolate. With its crunchy biscuit base, a thick layer of caramel topped with dark chocolate, it's definitely for those days when you need a sugar fix. Our recipe is vegan, but just substitute the dairy-free butter for the real thing, if you like.
Although who exactly invented this British classic is unclear, it did originate in the Lake District region of northwest England, UK. It truly is a sticky pudding, with chopped dates in the dense sponge and a buttery, creamy, sugary sauce. You can make it as one large pudding or bake it in individual metal pudding basins. We highly recommend adding a pinch of sea salt to the divine toffee sauce.
The tradition of a rich fruit cake for Christmas and Easter has been around in the UK for centuries. Richly spiced with booze-soaked dried fruits, it keeps for a month or two if well wrapped. It's classically covered with marzipan and frosting, which you can buy. It's a pretty effortless cake which just needs time to mature. Our recipe is moist, sticky and spicy.
Despite the name, it seems that this teatime classic become popular in the UK in the early 1900s. It's made with what's known as a fatless sponge, as it contains no butter. To achieve the light, airy texture, eggs and sugar are beaten in a bowl over simmering water until they are pale and creamy. It definitely needs a light hand to retain the air. Our recipe incorporates a zingy lemon curd and buttercream.
One origin story about Battenberg cake is that it was created in 1884 to mark the wedding of Queen Victoria's granddaughter to Prince Louis of Battenberg. Although shop-bought versions are available, homemade Battenberg is lovely – a light, soft sponge sandwiched with apricot jam and covered in marzipan. You can now buy a special Battenberg tin to make it easier. It just takes a bit of precision-weighing and cutting to get it right.
No one is quite sure where in the UK this classic component of an afternoon tea originated, but it made its name in the southwest of England where clotted cream came from. Paired with raspberry or strawberry jam, scones are best eaten fresh from the oven. It's important not to overwork the dough, or they won't rise and will be tough. Our recipe gives you the perfect lighter-than-air scone.
Cakes and sweet bakes using almonds date back centuries with roots in parts of the Mediterranean and the Levant. Using the ground nuts in place of some or all of the flour in a cake results in a dense, moist texture. In this recipe, almonds pair extremely well with the citrus flavors of oranges, which are boiled whole, then puréed and mixed through the batter.